TheMaji – Page 30 – Stephen Saunders

PASSINGS: LOUIE BELLSON

Washington Post – Louie Bellson, 84, widely considered one of the world’s greatest drummers, who played with Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Count Basie, died in California of complications from a hip fracture he suffered in November.

A six-time Grammy nominee who performed on more than 200 albums and wrote more than 1,000 compositions and arrangements and a dozen books on percussion, Mr. Bellson was the last of the triumvirate of great percussionists who came out of the big-band era. He was a member of Ellington’s band from 1951 to 1953 and was often the only white musician who performed with it before segregated audiences in the South.

In 1938, while still in high school, he came up with the idea of using two bass drums in his drum set, an addition that became his signature. Two years later, he beat 40,000 others to win a nationwide drumming contest. He joined Benny Goodman’s band before he was 20 years old.

He married singer Pearl Bailey and left Ellington’s band to be her musical director. Over the years, Mr. Bellson performed with such greats as Harry James, Woody Herman, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Mel Torme and Joe Williams. Just a year ago, he issued what would be his final CD, “Louie & Clark Expedition 2,” and he was still touring last fall.

SPIN at its best… how the politicians do it….

Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher in southern California ,
was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that
Harry Reid’s great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing
and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and Congressman Harry Reid
share this common ancestor.

Congressman Harry Reid

The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in
Montana territory.

On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this
inscription: ‘Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison
1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton
detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.’

So Judy recently e-mailed Congressman Harry Reid for information about
their great-great uncle.

Believe it or not, Harry Reid’s staff sent back the following biographical
sketch for her genealogy research:

‘Remus Reid was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory . His business
empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and
intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he
devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking
leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key
player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective
Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held
in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.’

NOW THAT is how it’s done in politics folks! That’s real SPIN.

California May Be Forced to Release Up to a Third of All Prisoners

February 10th, 2009
How will the private prison companies manage?

Via: Reuters:

Federal judges on Monday tentatively ordered California to release tens of thousands of inmates, up to a third of all prisoners, in the next three years to stop dangerous overcrowding.

As many as 57,000 could be let go if the current population were cut by the maximum percentage considered by a three-judge panel. Judges said the move could be done without threatening public safety — and might improve a public safety hazard.

The state immediately said it would appeal the final ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trend-setting California, the Golden State, has an immense prison system responsible for nearly 170,000 inmates, and their care has become a major political and budget issue as officials weigh multibillion costs of improved facilities against death and illness behind bars.

FANS BACK PHELPS

Washington Times – There’s a “Phelps backlash” out there. Fans and sympathizers have issued a cheeky call to boycott Kellogg’s, the cereal and snack mega-manufacturer that dropped the Olympic swimmer’s lucrative endorsement contract after his experience with marijuana became public a week ago.

“Kellogg’s has profited for decades on the food tastes of marijuana-using Americans with the munchies. In fact, we believe that most people over the age of 12 would not eat Kellogg’s products were they not wicked high,” reads a multipart petition written by Lee Stranahan, a Los Angeles writer and filmmaker.

Pop-Tarts, Cheez-Its and other junk-food favorites of marijuana users figure prominently in the drive, along with mentions of the “freaky” lifestyle of John Harvey Kellogg, who founded the company in 1906. Mr. Stranahan’s petition was featured Friday at the online Huffington Post and elsewhere.

Kellogg’s said it would not renew a lucrative endorsement contract, which will expire at the end of this month, with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps after a photo was published of the athlete smoking marijuana. . .

Among the sponsors, Kellogg’s stands alone in its harsh judgment so far.

Others commercial backers — including Speedo, Omega and Visa — appear satisfied with Mr. Phelps’ public apology for “regrettable behavior” and “bad judgment,” which was made after a British tabloid published a photo of the record-breaking Olympic athlete smoking marijuana at a college house party in November.

None have canceled their reported million-dollar sponsorships.

A COP IS MORE LIKELY TO KILL YOU THAN A TERRORIST

Eye Wash Station – After 9/11, the fear of another attack on U.S. soil cleanly supplanted the fear of having one’s penis chopped off by a vengeful lover in the pantheon of irrational American fears. While we’re constantly being told that another attack is imminent and that radical Islamic fundamentalists are two steps away from establishing a caliphate in Branson, Missouri, just how close are they? How do the odds of dying in a terrorist attack stack up against the odds of dying in other unfortunate situations?

The following ratios were compiled using data from 2004 National Safety Council Estimates, a report based on data from The National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, 2003 mortality data from the Center for Disease Control was used.

You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack

You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack

You are six times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack

You are eight times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack

You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane

You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack

You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack

You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack

You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack

You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack

You are nine times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack

You are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist

BRITISH DRUG EXPERT SAYS ECSTASY NO MORE DANGEROUS THAN RIDING A HORSE

BBC – Taking the drug ecstasy is no more dangerous than riding a horse, a senior advisor has suggested. Professor David Nutt, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, outlined his view in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

The council, which advises the government, is expected next week to recommend that ecstasy is downgraded from a class A drug to a class B one. Ministers have outlined their opposition to any such move.

Professor Nutt wrote: “Drug harm can be equal to harms in other parts of life. There is not much difference between horse-riding and ecstasy.”

The professor said horse-riding accounted for more than 100 deaths a year, and went on: “This attitude raises the critical question of why society tolerates – indeed encourages – certain forms of potentially harmful behavior but not others such as drug use.”

Boycott Kellogg’s!

Someone needs to spank Kellogg’s on its sugar-frosted hiney. And If I bought Kellogg’s products I would join the call to boycott them. How does a company devoted to setting little kids on the path to Type 2 diabetes get all sanctimonious about Michael Phelps and a bong hit? His behavior is inconsistent with its image, the company says. Huh? How can that be? Tony the Tiger is generally the first pusher of addictive substances in a child’s life. That’s the American way.

Take Frosted Flakes. The company recommends a 3/4-cup serving, but come on that’s like eating a handful of sugary air. A real bowl is about two to three times that amount. That means kids can start the day with up to 36 grams of sugar, or about 9 teaspoons per bowl. Multiply that morning after morning.

Then there are Crack-its, or rather, Cheez-its. I don’t care what the serving portion is, can anyone stop at anything under half a box? Anyway, the larger point is this: He’s a 23-year-old young man who got caught doing what 23-year-old young men do. Phelps has apologized. He can still be president. And most of his other sponsors, like Speedo, seem to be sticking with him.

Why is Kellogg’s hyperventilating over this? Frankly, I think the company is shooting itself in its frosted foot. It will never find a better pitch man. The message was streamlined and simple: eat this food and you too will have to swim 17 hours a day.

Anyway, over on Huffingont Post, Lee Stranahan takes a different tack. He argues that Kellogg’s is alienating its most devoted adult client base, the stoner crowd. Here are snippets from his petition calling for boycott:

1) Kellogg’s is a major manufacturer of cereal and junk food products including but not limited to Frosted Flakes, Pop Tarts, Cheez-Its, Froot Loops, Keebler’s Cookies, Rice Krispies, Eggo Frozen Waffles, Famous Amos Cookies and many other products known to be a part of the diet of many marijuana using Americans

2) Kellogg’s has profited for decades on the food tastes of marijuana using Americans with the munchies. In fact, we believe that most people over the age of twelve would not eat Kellogg’s products were they not wicked high.

3)That Kellogg’s has decided to end their relationship with Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps after pictures of him surfaced doing exactly what most Kellogg’s customers do right before enjoying a bowl of Rice Krispies mixed with Keebler Cookies with an Eggo on top.

The rest is pretty funny and worth a read.

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

DEA continues pot raids Obama opposes. President vowed to end policy.

Stephen Dinan and Ben Conery THE WASHINGTON TIMES Thursday, February 5, 2009

Drug Enforcement Administration agents this week raided four medical
marijuana shops in California, contrary to President Obama’s campaign
promises to stop the raids.

DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart

The White House said it expects those kinds of raids to end once Mr.
Obama nominates someone to take charge of DEA, which is still run by Bush
administration holdovers.

“The president believes that federal resources should not be used to
circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to
fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review
their policies with that in mind,” White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

Medical use of marijuana is legal under the law in California and a dozen
other states, but the federal government under President Bush, bolstered by
a 2005 Supreme Court ruling, argued that federal interests trumped state
law.

Dogged by marijuana advocates throughout the campaign, Mr. Obama repeatedly
said he was opposed to using the federal government to raid medical
marijuana shops, particularly because it was an infringement on states’
decisions.

“I’m not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent
state laws on this issue,” Mr. Obama told the Mail Tribune newspaper in
Oregon in March, during the Democratic primary campaign.

He told the newspaper the “basic concept of using medical marijuana for the
same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by
doctors, I think that’s entirely appropriate.”

Mr. Obama is still filling key law enforcement posts. For now, DEA is run by
acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, a Bush appointee.

Special Agent Sarah Pullen of the DEA’s Los Angeles office said agents
raided four marijuana dispensaries about noon Tuesday. Two were in Venice
and one each was in Marina Del Rey and Playa Del Ray — all in the Los
Angeles area.

A man who answered the phone at Marina Caregivers in Marina Del Rey said his
shop was the target of a raid but declined to elaborate, saying the shop was
just trying to get back to operating.

Agent Pullen said the four raids seized $10,000 in cash and 224 kilograms of
marijuana and marijuana-laced food, such as cookies. No one was arrested,
she said, but the raid is part of an ongoing investigation seeking to trace
the marijuana back to its suppliers or source.

She said agents have conducted 30 or 40 similar raids in the past several
years, many of which resulted in prosecutions.

“It’s clear that the DEA is showing no respect for President Obama’s
campaign promises,” said Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy
Project in Washington, which advocates for medical marijuana and for
decriminalizing the drug.

California allows patients whose doctors prescribe marijuana to use the
drug. The state has set up a registry to allow patients to obtain cards
allowing them to possess, grow, transport and use marijuana.

Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group
in California, called the raids an attempt to undermine state law and said
they were apparently conducted without the knowledge of Los Angeles city or
police officials.

He said the DEA has raided five medical marijuana dispensaries in the state
since Mr. Obama was inaugurated and that the first took place on Jan. 22 in
South Lake Tahoe.

“President Obama needs to keep a promise he made, not just in one campaign
stop, but in multiple speeches that he would not be spending Justice
Department funds on these kinds of raids,” Mr. Hermes said. “We do want to
give him a little bit of leeway, but at the same time we’re expecting him to
stop this egregious enforcement policy that is continuing into his
presidency.”

He said he is aware that Mr. Obama has not installed his own DEA chief but
that new Attorney General “Eric Holder can still suspend these types of
operations.”

The Justice Department referred questions to the White House.

NORML Responds To Phelp’s Pot-Smoking Controversy

Washington, DC: Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and tens of millions of other successful Americans have smoked marijuana; America’s laws should reflect this fact not deny it, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano wrote on The Hill.com’s influential Congress blog this week.

The Hill is a popular Washington, DC publication that is widely read by members of Congress and their staff.

Armentano writes: Sure, there will be some who will say that this latest chapter in Phelp’s life is deserving of criticism because the 14-time gold medalist is sending a poor message to young children. And what message would that be? That you can occasionally smoke marijuana and still be successful in life. Well sorry if the truth hurts.”

Earlier this week, Phelps acknowledged that he used marijuana while attending a college party in November. A photograph of Phelps smoking cannabis at the party appeared in a British tabloid on Sunday.

To date, more than 200 readers have posted feedback to NORML’s commentary, making it one of the most commented on essays in Hill.com history.

Full text of Armentano’s editorial, Why condemn Phelps when we ought to condemn the laws that brand him a criminal,” is available online at: http://tinyurl.com/b2aqg3